Apple Watch apps: This is the experience Apple will sell you on launch day

The Apple Watch launch is getting nearer by the day, with an April release recently confirmed, and through a number of references, leaks, hints and suggestions from Apple officials we are slowly getting an idea of what it will be able to do.

Unlike Google's Android Wear operating system found on smartwatches from Motorola, LG, Asus and others, which has very much been a work in-progress, Apple and third party developers have had since September or even longer to perfect not only the core operating system, but also the apps that will run on it.

Come launch day, the hardware will almost be secondary: we've already seen it and it has been widely previewed in all its many forms. What Apple will be selling you on launch day is the Apple Watch experience. That's all the functions and importantly, all the apps that have been in development.

We've listed the different applications that have been rumoured or are absolute musts for Watch to succeed in a rapidly expanding sector of gadgetry. And we've split them into the Apple apps that will come pre-installed and third-party software that will likely be available on the App Store from day one.

Apple-created Apple Watch apps confirmed and expected on day one

Clock

It's a watch after all. The company has confirmed a number of watch faces for owners to chose from. Designs showcased so far range from serious to whimsical. It includes a classic Mickey Mouse watch face.

READ: Apple Watch release date, price and everything you need to know

Stopwatch/timer/world clock/alarm

Another obvious one, but Apple has also confirmed the watch will not only tell the time but give you all the usual features of a $2 digital watch. That will naturally include a stopwatch, timer, alarm and world clock features for when you need to know the time elsewhere.

Maps

An Apple maps app will let you see where you are going without having to look at your phone. Although the Apple Watch doesn't have GPS built in, it will connect to your iPhone and use its tech to guide you from A to B.

Messages

Message alerts and iMessage support are both givens and Apple showed off how these will work when the Apple Watch launches in April. You'll be able to dictate voice messages via Siri, or tap preset response options based on the context of the message you've received.

Photos

You'll be able to look at pictures (albeit very small) on your wrist. Expect to do lots of squinting.

Passbook and Apple Pay

Access tickets, vouchers, store cards and then tap to pay via Passbook. No more rummaging for your phone or your wallet, just a case of dumping your wrist on the counter instead.

Apple Remote

Got an Apple TV? Now you've got a remote for it on your wrist all the time. That's going to be handy for sofa channel hopping. Or more likely, looking flash during presentations in the office.

Mail

Email notifications directly to your wrist are a mainstay for smartwatches, although given how mind numbing this can be on a Pebble or Android Wear watch if you get lots of emails, expect Apple to build in heavy filter options to cut down on being bombarded.

Music

Control your iTunes tracks from your arm, of course.

Weather

Is it raining? To save you looking out the window you'll be able to get a pretty update on your arm instead.

Calendar

You've got 10 minutes to get to your next meeting. Who needs a PA nagging you, your wrist will do that in the future.

Remote Camera

Set your iPhone up on ledge and then control it from your Watch. You just have to hope nobody pinches it while you're standing five feet away getting that perfect selfie.

Phone

Your phone is vibrating in your pocket, who could be calling? A quick glance will tell you if it is important and allow you to take or decline the call as you see fit.

Stocks

You'll never not be able to quickly find out how much your Apple stock is worth.

Activity and Workout

One of the big sells of the Apple Watch is going to be about being active and Apple has included an activity and workout app as standard to get the ball rolling. Pairing with iHeath on your iPhone, the activity and workout apps will monitor all your daily exercise and give you an idea of how you are doing via a series of rings that you have to complete in a circle.

Friends

Think "favourites" in your contact book. This will be a quick list of people you want to send a message to, make a call or to do other things like "digitally touch" them.

Digital Touch

If you and your loved one both have Apple Watches you can send vibrations and drawings to each other by sketching on the screen. You'll even be able to send your heartbeat. How romantic.

Siri

Press the digital crown long enough and Apple's Personal Assistant is there to help answer your questions.

READ: Apple Watch preview: Apple hopes it's time for the ultimate iPhone accessory

Third-party Apple Watch apps confirmed and expected on day one

Nike+

Nike has ditched its own wearable FuelBand devices in favour of software and Apple has already demonstrated how Nike+ Running could be implemented on the Apple Watch. Nike has confirmed that users of the Nike+ Apple Watch app will be able to challenge friends as well as track the usual array of statistics from their runs.

Pinterest

The digital scrapbook app is said to remind you when you're near a "pinned" site so you can discover it again. It should also give you walking directions to the site. Apple has also just inked a deal that lets Pinterest users pin apps and their install links in the App Store on the iPhone and iPad. Could this work on the Watch across other features?

American Airlines

The American Airlines app will let you know how much time until your plane starts boarding and then let you check in at the gate without touching your phone. We suspect it will also vibrate on your wrist when it's time to leave your Bloody Mary and peanuts in the club lounge.

Twitter

While we can see that scrolling through an endless flow of Tweets will be dull and difficult on a small screen on your wrist, getting DMs or following how many retweets you get could be helpful and will mean you won't have to keep looking at your phone.

Lutron

Home automation all from your wrist, that's presumably going to be the focus for the Lutron app. Need to turn your lights on with a tap of the wrist? No problem. Pebble owners are already comfortably doing that with other services like Philips Hue.

Starwood Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest)

The days of not being able to find your key card or getting to your room door only to find out that your credit cards have wiped your door key are likely to be over. Starwood Hotels, which also owns W Hotels, has created an Apple Watch app that allows you to unlock your hotel room door by waving your Watch in front of it.

WeChat

With 300 million users already, WeChat adding support for the Apple Watch seems like a no-brainer. Like the other messaging apps planned for the device, it is likely that you'll be able to see and reply to messages using the Apple Watch auto reply feature that reads your message and then gives you suggested phrases to reply with.

Honeywell Lyric

Heating, lights and security all managed by your wrist is a natural fit. Why yes, I would like the lights down low and the heating turned up.

MLB.com

One for the Americans. Baseball scores to your wrist. Never again will you wonder whether the bases are loaded at the bottom of the seventh. You'll simply know.

Facebook

Like Twitter, we can easily access people's postings as they tell the world that they are somewhere special or something amazing has just happened.

AT&T Digital Life

Another home security automation service that you'll control from your wrist via an Apple Watch app.

BMW i

If you're a BMW owner keen to know how much charge you've got left in your i3 or i8, then this is the app to tell you. We also suspect BMW to start thinking about integrating some of the features it showed off on the Samsung Gear at CES. These allowed you to park your car remotely once you've got out. Although don't expect this in time for the Apple Watch launch in April.

Shazam

What's that tune? The Shazam Apple Watch app is likely to let you quickly tap your watch to find out. Much quicker than scrabbling for your phone in your bag or your pocket to press the listen button.

Instagram

Apple's design team have already expressed how they love viewing images on the Apple Watch, and its rich colour screen is likely to sit pretty with Instagram's filtered curation.

CityMapper

Lost? Need transit times? Don't like Apple Maps? City Mapper is just one of the expected navigation apps that will serve up directions on the fly so you don't have to look like a complete tourist holding your phone out in front of you when you next need to work out whether to turn left or right.

Yahoo News Digest

The app already condenses news down into bite-sized chunks for people to get snippets of news on the go. It makes sense therefore to provide those snippets of news on the go via Apple Watch.

More Apple Watch apps to come

This is just going to be the start. The latest rumours suggest that Apple is gathering preferred app developers together to help them complete their apps before the April launch. Apple is hoping to bring the Apple Watch to market as ready as it can be. It doesn't really do "work in progress".

It's an approach that worked well for the iPad and it would be foolish to think Apple would approach the launch of its first wearable any differently.

We will keep this list updated as we near the launch of the Apple Watch. Please let us know in the comments below if you are a developer working on an Apple Watch app.